It has now become common to load web pages with paid advertising. For example, it is common to see advertisements and web page linked advertisements on many web pages. Simply stated, with a web page linked advertisement, by "clicking" on the ad, forwarding of the browser to the relevant web page of the advertiser occurs.
In a typical advertising supported website, an advertiser supplies ad copy electronically to a website operator. The website operator owns and/or controls a computer or collection of computers knows as the webserver. The website operator creates one or more hyperlinked pages and stores those pages on the webserver, preferably with the ad copy included, or referenced, in one or more of the hyperlinked pages.
A user of a browser that is interested in the website will direct his browser to connect to the webserver and retrieve one or more pages of the website. As the browser displays the pages for the user, the browser displays the ad copy, by virtue of the fact that the website operator included the ad copy in the website pages being viewed.
Unfortunately, the advertiser placing the ad has little control over how the ad is viewed. For example, many web pages are larger than the screen that displays the pages. This being the case, the pages are typically scrolled, and with the scrolling of the pages, the ads are likewise scrolled. Such scrolling brings the ads into and out of view, on a basis where both the advertiser and the agency placing the ad have no control over when the ad is being viewed.
A known solution to scrolling is to place the ad content in a non-scrolling frame. In such an ad, the non-scrolling frame and the ad content is constantly located with respect to the viewed screen of the browser. Thus, both the agencies placing the ad and the advertisers are relatively sure that the ad remains where it may be viewed.
Unfortunately, there is a downside to utilizing a non-scrolling frame. Specifically, one of the most important ways a website is enabled to have life sustaining "hits" to be indexed with certain general search sites. These general search sites take in the subject matter sought, a name, or combinations of words and direct the inquiring browsers likely websites having the desired information sought. Many such general search sites take information from robotic searchers--searching computer programs that essentially with minimal tending systematically visit and then index websites and the subject matter contained or referred to within the website. It is required that these search engines be able to freely move from website to website to continue their searching and indexing task.
Non-scrolling frames present on a website serve to trap such search engines at a particular website and prevent the search engines from moving on to the next website. The presence of the frame gets the engine caught on the site in a recursive cycle that prevents further search engine movement from the website without time-consuming manual intervention. A solution commonly adapted by designers of search engines is to quickly scan the site for the presence of a frame. Finding a frame, the search engine moves on without further interrogation of the website--and more importantly for the owner of the website--without adding the website to the index. In other words, heretofore, placement of a non-scrolling frame within a website excludes that website from many indexes. And being excluded from many indexes, the website is isolated from what otherwise might be a larger number of revenue earning hits. It therefore become understandable that frames--especially non-scrolling frames--within websites are avoided.
The time of ad content view is another problem. Taking the same situation of a non-scrolling frame, ad content is often changed within the frame on a periodic basis. This change is either programmed or random by the website with respect to any given ad. Since only the website controls the ad content, both the programmed or random display of ad content continues indefinitely so long as the browser remains on the website.